


Galadriel Remembers

by Savageseraph



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Loss, Memories, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-10-29
Updated: 2002-10-29
Packaged: 2017-10-02 18:32:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savageseraph/pseuds/Savageseraph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After returning to the West, did Galadriel ever regret her choice?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Galadriel Remembers

**Author's Note:**

> Over the weekend, I unearthed a bunch of really old poems I had written during the years I lived in Germany. Some were published by small press magazines--which, I suppose, means that I could post them here, since my first rights have already been sold.
> 
> "Galadriel Remembers" came out of a reading of Galadriel's temptation in _Fellowship of the Ring_. I wondered if, after returning to the West, she ever regretted her choice. And because I was forcing myself to write in rhyme (something I rarely do--and even more rarely do well), it became a sort of finger exercise for me. 
> 
> I planned on just letting it sit on my hard drive, until I was researching markets for the other poems and read about the American Tolkien Society (no idea if they are still around) whose newsletter _Minas Tirith Evening Star_ printed poetry. So I sent this poem along to them, and they accepted it.

The foam is silver on the seas,  
In this land where no one dies.  
Elven voices are sweet upon the breeze,  
And to the East, a single gull flies.

Ah, I feel lost in a waking dream,  
My heart, my blood, bleached white and pale,  
A golden wood and crystal stream  
Stir longing, lift memory's veil.

How I wrought mighty magic then,  
In a smooth, quicksilver pool,  
Almost a goddess in the minds of men,  
But in the minds of the gods, a fool.

Now do I dare lament my choice  
To pass into the West, to dwell  
Diminished, to speak with muted voice,  
No Sorceress-Queen, only Galadriel.

Far to the East, that bright gull cries,  
My heart rides softly on her white wings.  
Far to the East, I turn yearning eyes  
And remember loves and wars and rings.

What passes now in those far lands,  
So warm and bright with mortal fire?  
Oh, to touch one flower with these cold hands,  
To feel the prick of one sharp briar.

What songs do they sing to children at night?  
What are the brave stories parents tell?  
Who are the heroes that put fears to flight?  
Who now even remembers Galadriel?


End file.
